by Gary. M. Anstey, chief researcher of the Anstey story project.
With additional information kindly provided by Anna Thorn.
The Doynton Ansteys are a sub-branch of the Dyrham Anstees, and there are a great number of them alive today, forming a very large subset of the South Gloucestershire Ansteys. Both of the chief researchers of this project, Gary and Tom, have communicated with numerous Doynton Ansteys during our Anstey research.
We need to be very careful with our labelling of the Doynton Ansteys because a few Dyrham Anstees moved to Doynton at various times during the 1800s, but they are not part of the Doynton Anstey sub-branch (see below for examples).
The actual (and only) patriarch of the Doynton Ansteys is Robert Anstey, born in 1780 and baptised in 1786 in Wapley cum Codrington to parents John Anstey (born in Dyrham in 1750) and Susannah Parker, who married in Wapley cum Codrington on 5 April 1772.
Robert Anstey married Elizabeth Mannings, a fellow native of Codrington, on 24 May 1809 in Cold Ashton. They moved to Doynton and had a large family of at least eleven children, being:
- Sarah Anstey (b 1812);
- Elizabeth Anstey (b 1813);
- Robert Anstey (b 1814);
- William Anstey (b 1814);
- John Anstey (b 1817);
- Mary Ann Anstey (b 1820);
- Eleanor Anstey (b 1824);
- George Anstey (b 1825);
- Susannah Anstey (b 1828)
- Edward Anstey (b 1830);
- James Anstey (b 1832).
In 1851, Robert Anstey, Elizabeth and their son Edward Anstey were living at their farmhouse residence in Doynton; Robert also ran the Cross House Pub at that time. Robert Anstey died on 2 April 1855 and is buried in Doynton churchyard. The above family and their descendants are the ‘true’ and only members of the Doynton Anstey sub-branch.
Other families also moved to Doynton in the early 1800s, but they are NOT Doynton Ansteys. For example, John Anstey (who was baptised in Dyrham in 1801 to parents Robert Anstey and Ann Sainsbury) married Mary Stephens in 1823 in Dyrham. This couple moved to Doynton in about 1826 and had six children, including George Anstey (b 1826) and Cornelius Anstey (b 1829 – patriarch of the Chew Magna Ansteys). Despite living in Doynton for a short while, this family is part of the Dyrham Anstee sub-branch, not the Doynton Ansteys.
Information sent to the Anstey Project by Anna Thorn: Another example of Dyrham Anstees moving to Doynton comes from another son of John Anstey and Susannah Parker, namely John Anstey (b 1778 in Wapley). He married Betty Strange in Dyrham in 1801 and they had numerous children including Aaron, (b 1809 in Dyrham), who moved to Doynton and married Hannah England in 1832. They had children Guy, John, Robert (who went to Australia, have not traced what happened to him) and Ellen. Ellen married Thomas Bence (b Newton St. Loe), sent as an apprentice shoemaker to Aaron at Doynton. They had Fred my grandfather, whose second wife was Priscilla Amos, her brother Douglas Amos married Mildred Anstey. Reverse the order:- Mildred Anstey 1896-1938 born to John Robert Anstey and Anne Maria Smith. Robert’s father was George (b 1825 married Rachael Sparrow) his father Robert (b 1780 Codrington d 1855 m. Elizabeth Mannings 1809 Cold Ashton).
We are actively on the lookout for Doynton Ansteys alive today who are willing to add their Anstey research to this project. Anybody so interested, please contact us at research@theansteystory.com. We are particularly interested in research regarding Doynton Ansteys who fought in World War One, preferably with personal souvenirs such as letters sent by the soldiers or military photos etc. Anybody who has such expertise and inclination, please contact us at research@theansteystory.com.
We have already uploaded bits of information and documentation about the Doynton Ansteys, and continue to upload more all the time (see Project Updates), however it is spread over various segments of the website.
The best way to find said information is to enter ‘Doynton’ in the search box at the bottom of this page and a list of relevant pages will appear.
Anybody who finds any mistakes on this page, please contact us at research@theansteystory.com and we will correct it.
